“. . . . . De Anthologiâ, which is of or concerning the
Anthology. As I hope to be
picking up lava from Etna, I cannot be tying up nosegays here in England; but
blind Tobin, whom you
know,—God bless him for a very good fellow!—but
Tobin the blind is very unwilling that no more
anthologies should appear; wherefore there will be more volumes, with which,
all I shall have to do, will be to see that large-paper copies be printed to
continue sets,—becoming myself only a gentleman contributor: to which
ingenious publication I beg your countenance, sir, and support. . . . . You ask
me questions about my future plans which I cannot readily answer, only that if
I got a decent salary abroad, even should my health take a fancy to this queer
climate, I have no estate to retire to at home, and so shall have a good
prudential reason for remaining there. My dreams incline to Lisbon as a
resting-place; I am really attached to the country,

162

LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE

Ætat. 27.

and,
odd as it may seem, to the people. In Lisbon they are, like all metropolitans,
roguish enough, but in the country I have found them hospitable, even to
kindness, when I was a stranger and in want. The consulship at Lisbon would, of
all possible situations, best delight me,—better than a grand
consulship,—’tis a good thousand a year. But when one is dreaming,
you know, Grosvenor——

“These lakes are like rivers; but oh for the Mondego and
the Tagus! And these mountains, beautifully indeed are they shaped and grouped;
but oh for the great Monchique! and for Cintra, my paradise!—the heaven
on earth of my hopes; and if ever I should have a house at Cintra, as in
earnest sincerity I do hope I shall, will not you give me one twelvemonth, and
eat grapes, and ride donkeys, and be very happy? In truth, Grosvenor, I have lived abroad too long to be
contented in England: I miss southern luxuries,—the fruits, the wines; I
miss the sun in heaven, having been upon a short allowance of sunbeams these
last ten days; and if the nervous fluid be the galvanic fluid, and the galvanic
fluid the electric fluid, and the electric fluid condensed light, zounds! what
an effect must these vile dark rainy clouds have upon a poor nervous fellow,
whose brain has been in a state of high illumination for the last fifteen
months!

“God bless you! I am going in a few days to meet
Wynn at Liverpool, and then to see
the Welsh lions. . . . . Grosvenor
Bedford, I wish you would write a history, for, take my word for
it, no employment else is one

Ætat. 27.

OF ROBERT SOUTHEY.

163

thousandth part so
interesting. I wish you would try it. We want a Venetian history. I would hunt
Italy, for your materials, and help you in any imaginable way. Think about it,
and tell me your thoughts.

Yours affectionately,

R. Southey.”

Grosvenor Charles Bedford (1773-1839)
The son of Horace Walpole's correspondent Charles Bedford; he was auditor of the
Exchequer and a friend of Robert Southey who contributed to several of Southey's
publications.

James Webbe Tobin [blind Tobin] (1767-1814)
The son of a plantation-owner, he was an abolitionist, follower of Godwin, friend of
Coleridge, and contributor to Southey's Annual Anthology. He was the
brother of the dramatist John Tobin.

Charles Watkin Williams Wynn (1775-1850)
The son of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, fourth baronet; educated at Westminster and Christ
Church, Oxford, Robert Southey's friend and benefactor was a Whig MP for Old Sarum (1797)
and Montgomeryshire (1799-1850). He was president of the Board of Control (1822-28).